Pink!

It was Deanna's 21st birthday celebration in Saturday night and the theme she chose was Pink. Headed to party world KTV nex after my gco training.

Saw a few familiar faces who were already there; Yuxin, Renyi, Simon, Andre, Zhiming. Yongsiang, Shiwee and 'yvonne' came subsequently as well.

Basically the night was spent having a buffet dinner, singing and listening to her other friend's and relatives sing, playing pool, cutting of birthday cake at 830pm, a short little speech where she thanked her parents and a burst-the-balloon lucky draw game.

It was a great evening I must say. Just want to wish Deanna Lee a happy happy birthday! All the best for your studies at NIE! =D

Sunsilk Academy Fantasia Round 1

Sunsilk Academy Fantasia is a reality singing competition brought into Singapore by Sunsilk and Starhub. It first started out in Mexico and has been brought to Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, India and China. Now it's here in Singapore!

The 14 contestants who will battled it out for the top prize -  2year contract from Ocean Butterflies.

So yesterday, the 1st round was held at St James Powerhouse Station. It was the battle between the 7 girls and I must say it was pretty exciting. Before starting off, photos are taken from Glitz.

Vee started off 重伤 by sitting on a chair for the 1st verse and chorus before standing up for the remaining parts of the song. Her rendition was very different from the original and she sung it in her own style. Audience could sense the emotions she was trying to portray and if you watched her during rehearsals, many of the contestants cried while watching her sing too. Generally her performance was one of the best for the night.

Huixian started her performance of 不痛 by walking from off stage and did some emotive actions during the prelude before the 1st verse. The starting was quite stable and she brought it to a climax at the end. However, I felt that the climax was not as high as it could have been. While watching her during rehearsals, her voice had alot of 穿透力 but maybe because it was with the live band, it sounded less powerful. Many of you would know that she's actually my good friend but I will still have to say that her performance was the best for this round looking at all the factors from stability to emotions and stage presence.

Natalie take on 失落沙洲 was good during rehearsals but it was totally incorrect yesterday night. She was off beat during many parts of the song and while she kept on singing, she got less and less confident which made her sound like she was unsure of what she was performing. Hardly any stage presence could be seen and what audience saw was more of her nervousness. Generally, the night just wasn't good for her.

Fiona's decision to sing 最熟悉的陌生人 was made just less than 24 hours before the competition and the results showed that she had made a wrong choice. I managed to catch the whole story of how she was in a dilemma between her 1st song choice and this song -  How kenneth and phil gave her advice and how she practiced the 2 songs in the studio. Honestly, her rendition of this song during rehearsals actually took me by surprise. Her voice had alot of  穿透力 and it was very powerful. However, during the actual performance, the live band made her voice sound weak and if felt that she was trying very hard to hit the high notes. The ending was not to her advantage where she sang a note 1 octave lower than the original singer. Generally the performance sounded very stressful to audience's ears but it was a good try.

Celyn's performance of 你要的愛 was not too good. She seemed to lack confidence in her performance and did not bring out the climax of the song. It was quite a so-so performance where she didn't display her vocals well and lacked good stage presence. Her inability to follow the beats of the song was a major problem. Even during rehearsals, she couldn't seem to put up  a good rendition of this song. Also, She definitely have to continue training new techniques to compete with the rest.

Chloe chose 错的人 because she felt that it was a comfortable range and the lyrics were meaningful. She did a pretty good job bringing out this song with all the high notes in place. Thoughout the song, she was quite stable as well. However, I felt that it was a rather technical performance and she lacked the stage presence. As the judges mentioned, she did not have any stage movement but merely finished the song at the same spot she started out. During rehearsals, I thought she did a bad job and spoilt the song. But nevertheless, she managed to bring a rendition of her own during the actual performance which I feel, is one of the better ones for the night.

Jessie was the only contestant that took on a fast song for the night. 愛要坦蕩蕩 managed to hyped up the atmosphere that was rather tense and the judges seem to like it. As what Xu Huan Liang mentioned, her actions looked abit too over-rehearsed though. And despite her saying that her best factor is her voice, I feel otherwise. Her voice lacks the uniqueness and she does not have enough techniques to bring out highly emotive songs if she intend to do so for the next few rounds.


Overall, my favorite performances for the night are by Huixian and Vee. I like both their emotive and unique renditions as well as their stage presence. They were definitely the 2 best performances for the night and I am looking forward to Chloe's performance with more stage presence the next round.

For those of you who are interested to know more about the contestants, you can visit www.sunsilkacademyfantasia.com

Do catch the daily lives of these contestants on Starhub Channel 110 between 7am to 1am from Sunday to Friday and the concert competitions on Channel 111 every Saturday at 930pm! Also, do remember to vote for your favorite contestant! You can do so by sending AFSGXX <space> Name <space> Ic number to 146073300 during the concerts competition till 1159pm.

Butter Factory

Had my first visit to Butter factory with the clique last wednesday. My dad picked up yiusi from kembangan mrt and dropped us off at fullerton hotel. Yiusi and I walked to the entrance of the club and met Liyin. We waited for about 45 mins before the other gals arrived.

Soon, we headed into the club. It was rather cool that I had a VIP chop. Reginia put her bag into the locker and we went in. It was quite noisy and smoky which isn't really my type of thing but nevertheless, first experience was not too bad. Sat around with the girls and took some photos before all of us went out to look for hui xian.

The girl forgot the bring her IC! To have a good bonding time as a clique, all of us made the decision to walk to boat quay for some drinks. Settled for Drinks and Darts and I tried Vodka with Cranberry. Not too bad i must say. Big sips made it taste alittle bitter but it was still within my limit. I preferred the smaller sips since it tasted sweet.

We chatted for close to 1.5hours before leaving. 

Huixian, liyin and I wanted to have some supper at I12 Toastbox initially but it was closed when we arrived. We needed the toilet so..... we decided to walk to Huixian's house. Had some quality chat time there with the 2 dear gals. Watched some hilarious videos and listening to how the two of them talk to the soft toys. Basically, it was a good HTHT. This is Huixian's Baby Ageyah. It was really huggable!!

The night ended at 4am where Liyin and I shared a cab home. A really good nights out before Huixian gets 'confined'. 

All the best Seah Huixian! Love you and I don't wanna see you until the September okay! Gambatte neh!

Corrinne May at Gardens by the Bay

Bought tickets to watch Corrinne May on 30th Jun 2012. The event was in collaboration with the opening of the Gardens by the Bay.

Met Sam for some Jia Xiang Kolo Mee at Marina Square before we train-ed and took the shuttle bus to the event place.

The security was rather tight there and they gave us green wristbands for identification. The distance into the Gardens from the entrance wasn't to far and soon, we saw the crowd.

The view from the Gardens was simply magnificent. We managed to see Marina Bay Sands up close!

We took a short walk before deciding to find a spot to sit down. As we didn't know that we'll be sitting on grass, the two of us didn't bring any picnic mats. BUT, the organizers were pretty nice. They gave us ponchos and so, we laid our ponchos and sat on them. Two media bloggers, William and Hong Peng happened to be there as well. They recognized Sam so we decided to enjoy the show together. 

The concert started quite punctually with Corrinne May playing the piano and singing to the tune of Whisper. 

After the first song, she belted out some familiar tunes of her new album such as Beautiful Life, Crooked Lines, 24 hours and Lazarus. In between, she mesmerize the audience with the all-time favourite of 'Everything in its time'

After the concert ended, Sam and I decided to take a walk around the gardens.

Although we only managed to cover a small portion of the place, we got to know that the Gardens have got many attractions such as the Flower Dome, Cloud Forest, The Canopy and Dragonfly Lake. Also, as a display of singapore's multi-racial environment, there are 4 sections of the garden dedicate for each of the 4 race groups; namely Chinese Garden, Malay Garden, Indian Garden and Colonial Garden respectively. Here's a map of the whole place.

The Cooled Conservatories and OCBC Skyway opens from 9am to 9pm daily and there are a few ways of getting to the place, one of which is the link bridge from Marina Bay Sands. 

For more information about admission prices, timings, places and ways to get there, you can visit http://www.gardensbythebay.com.sg/content/gbb/en/plan-your-visit/visitor-information.html

For those who are interested in more opinions, you can take a look at the blogs of the 2 media bloggers that I got to know at the event. 

Hong Peng: http://hpility.blogspot.sg/2012/07/singapore-garden-city-gardens-by-bay.html

William: http://onlywilliam.blogspot.sg/2012/07/flower-dome-gardens-by-bay-singapore.html

This newly-opened tourist attraction cannot be missed!

Bye CDC!

06 July 2012 -  The day which I officially passed my driving test!

Really Happy to get such good results. It was a hectic morning: Waking up late, arriving 5mins late, requested for old car hence delayed further more, mounted kerb during warm up. 

BUT, I DID IT! yay! thankful for a good and nice tester. 

It feels surreal that I am never going back to CDC again for any lessons, not in the near future at least. I met many great instructors there and although I can't remember each and every of them, I will remember that I had good chats with many of them. (I will blog about some memories when I receive my official driving license.)

photo courtesy of Vincent

It's Bye to CDC for now!

那些年，我們一起追日落

Taking a trip down memory lane. Have you ever thought of a reason for everything that happens in life? Well, I do.
If I didn't like working in the previous unit, I wouldn't have quit and realized that I actually like the environment. I wouldn't have so randomly decided to email Candy and land myself in the most amazing experience ever.

It all started with this. Looking back, I definitely had the intention to just leave after the first week. Thick stack of application forms I printed -  those were the torturous ones where I literally had to open up each and every single one. Not forgetting the fact how one collegaue claimed that I didn't look properly and carefully for her documents. And there was the interview centre which was really boring. Just one week and I thought of getting myself out of the place. But, I didn't because it would all seem weak and wasteful if I can't even stay at a workplace for more than a month. I convinced myself that I had to bring out more perserverance.

I thought I will even not have any liking for the job when Narinder left. Well, I was only closer to her then. Plus, I don't spend lunches with them. I chose to stay in my comfort zone of eating with the temps from upstairs instead. Other than Narinder, Malini and Jeanette, I simply had not much impression of any memories with the rest. Talk about Wai Lin - I totally have no memory of her initially!

But things got better along the way, starting from the day of Narinder's farewell. Joyce brought all of us out to Clementi Mall's Mcdonalds where I thought, was really the turning point. Despite being an angst temp, I got convinced by a McChicken treat. Actually, I can still fondly remember the moments of queing up for it. How Judy said she need to eat something lighter but end up getting something rather heavy. How I said I wanted just a McChicken burger but end up ordering a meal because it's cheaper with the inflation of prices. How Malini was praising that the Wasabi burger was all so nice. And that was the day I got my first treat.

That treat, actually sparked my desire to go for lunch with them more. The next thing I remembered was going away for 1 week and getting to know Melissa when I was back. Real friendly indeed -  she came to me while I was talking to Jeanette and afterwards, she spoke to me in Chinese. (I still can't believe how anyone would start a conversation with someone unfamiliar in Chinese). Lunching out with Jeanette, Wai Lin and Melissa was always fun and interesting. There was once where I went out for lunch with everyone except the AHREs and it was quite awkward for me since everyone was talking about work and kids. Ended up talking to Mel instead and it made lunch less boring. Of course, I had some fun times teaching Melissa what we, TCs do and aid her in the preparations for interviews. I will probably not forget the times I always reminded her to take her jacket when she leaves for an interview. ;-)

Wai Lin went on her holiday and we put Jeanette the soft toy to worked on her behalf. She came back with a soft toy named Wong Wong. To me, it looks like a monkey or sorts but apparently, it's a teapot - One with a head much much bigger than its body. It can hardly stand on its own but have to lean on something instead.

And then one fine day during lunch, we decided to take random photos of Jeanette the toy and a small little elmo that Wai Lin was going to give it to her friend. Did I mention that they actually had Pringles and Milo as part of their welfare for that month? So yes, we took many many random photos, with Elmo, with Jeanette, with Pringles and of course, with the 3 of us inside.

While Wai Lin went on MC one day, I took a picture of Jeanette strangling the toy and demanded that we should have a treat to mee kia and mee pok. And well.... I got that treat eventually.....

Oh yes and if you were to ask me what's one thing that makes me remember Ivy. I would say... food! I had been eating from the yong tau foo stall in the canteen most of the time and over lunch one day, I saw Ivy eating one of my favorites: Xing Chow Bee Hoon. And after that, I started eating this quite frequently. It literally became one of my favorites from the canteen!

May joined the team in April. While I was all busy helping Malini, Jeanette taught her almost everything that we knew, ranging from how we clear generic emails to what we do at interview centres. I didn't really have much interactions with her since she often lunch-ed in and Jeanette aided her in the preparations. But, the we-cannot-find-the-room-key incident was one major event that I got to know her alittle better. Thankfully, everything was alright eventually.

Then, Jeanette's last day came all too soon. We had only one week left with her around but it was great. Managed to get her to cut lots of paper for us which ended up with her calling herself the paper-cutter. But, it was really beneficial to all of us later on.

Joyce called pizza delivery on her last day (although it wasn't exactly the reason why she called for it) and it was the first time ( for me) taking pictures with almost everyone in the office. Despite the draggy interview, we saved pizzas for her and Melissa and I had the honour of using the office's microwave for the first time to reheat the pizza for Melissa. Guess it wasn't too diffcult to operate an unfamiliar machine afterall.....

With Jeanette's absence, things got busier. Manning interview counters everyday, for 5 days a week wasn't pretty much easy. Sometimes, sitting past 6pm makes me feel all drowsy and tired. Having interviews early in the morning didn't do much difference since I had to wake up earlier and was equally drowsy during the interviews. One fine evening, as I left the office at 645pm, I saw this scene just as I was about to head towards the MRT. Despite working there for 2 months already, I had never realized that there is a still-not-too-bad sunset that presents itself in front of me everyday ( or maybe leaving at 6 punctually does not allow us to see sunset). That particular evening, I sent the image to Wai Lin and subsequently Melissa and somehow or rather, I unintentionally started this thing about seeing sunset everyday. If Melissa wanted to see some sunlight at the end of the day, she have to be out and down by 650pm latest. Similarly, I tried to make sure I do get to see sunset everyday.

Going to 5th floor MESRC to take a look at what sales was ongoing became a routine because Wai Lin was (most of the time) interested. When May joined us, it became a more frequent daily event and I will end up standing in front of the sales schedule before heading home once every week. One Monday, Goodwood park Hotel came to our very own 5th floor with their famous durian puff. Therefore, Wai Lin, May and I headed down to take a look and eventually bought a box to share. This box lasted us for almost 4 days. It couldn't really defrost within an hour because the office was rather cold. I still remembered that it took about 1.5-2 hours before it actually taste creamy and not like frozen ice-cream. Nevertheless, 5th floor was a really important part of life there.

Everyone in the office except the AHREs went away for 2 days and it was really quiet in the office. On the first day, Malini bought breakfast for Wai Lin and I. It was a really hearty breakfast I must say because it lasted me till late afternoon and I end up skipping lunch. We had a surprise from Judy as well, who treated us to Tau Huey. So... that made a hearty breakfast even more exciting ( and fattening). I must say the breakfast was really good and I am quite thankfully that Malini bought us brunch.

And then in the afternoon, I decided that I will do some cleaning up for my table and the table for the new TCs. Cleaned the tables, phone, laptops and anything on my table with wet and dry tissue. Eventually, Wai Lin got influenced and started cleaning hers as well. So... the afternoon was spent helping her pack the forms under her table and moving it to the cupboards. Honestly, I missed Jeanette at that point in time because I was really too short and couldn't reach for the top of the cabinet. Haha. End of the day, it was an achivement accomplished.

10th May. A new TC came in! Hui yi was really lucky because she managed to go to a new place for lunch everyday for the first week of her stay with us. And she managed to complete the mission that Jeanette didn't finish - grand opening for the packet of keropok on Malini's table!

Wai Lin and I planned a trip to J cube mall after hearing the adventures of May and Malini. Tried to get Jeanette down but she decided to go jogging instead.We managed to catch a little bit of the sunset upon reaching and it was quite an amazing sight. The night was well spent with a walk to explore the mall, watching the making of stickys, dinner at old town coffee and a really long chat session. Funny how I was being 'followed' by some ah peh in baggy top, cigarette and draggy sandals after that as I reach home at 12am.

Joyce decided to get Ben and Jerry's ice cream for everyone and got me to go with her to get it. I was really tired at 4pm that friday and I can still remember how Joyce said I look so sian so I should take a walk with her. Decided to take the underpass and while waiting for the ice cream to be packed, she tried to take a photo using her front camera. It was a really good shot with me making a not-so-usual face. haha. And on the way back, we decided to cross the road and it is not possible to forget how she said i was very 'guo duan' when crossing the road as I got her to cross with me with motorcycles heading our way.

Went for my short holiday and when I was back, my last day was nearing. Finally one evening, I had the chance of interacting with May as we took the MRT to bartley where her husband came to fetch me and dropped me off at my destination. While waiting for her husband's arrival, we had a chat about crashing wai lin's house and about happy call pans. Funny topic indeed. At the same time, I noticed the beautiful sunset in front of us. And I wondered, how come we are constantly trying to catch the sun before it sets. Never gave it a deeper thought though. Nevertheless, I had a short interaction with May's son Azriel. He was more interested in my phone than me actually. 

Subsequently, Joseleen and May decided to treat me lunch as a form or farewell. So.. we went to the market to have claypot rice, courtesy of Joseleen and Holland Village for swensens, courtesy of May. I don't particularly like farewells but those lunch treats will always be a significant memory of my time there.

Decided to wear a pair of wedges I haven't worn in a long time because Wai Lin asked if I had wedges. Thought it was rather comfortable until the bottom came off when I was walking to the interview centre. Thankfully, Melissa had an extra pair of flats that she bought recently. Although it doesn't cost that much, the fact that it was chosen by her daughter makes it a very different pair of flats. Had the intention of getting it from her after the interview end but she surprised me by bringing it over to the interview centre for me. Can't describe how touched I was by her little gesture.

   

The final week has finally arrived and although there was a tinge of sadness, I had a very enjoyable last week. I travelled to Clementi Mall with May, Wai Lin and Huiyi on Monday to enjoy a family meal of KFC before going to Eskimo to get milk tea with pearl (which huiyi treated me). Managed to explore the newly renovated coffeeshop with a huge serving of charsiew/bbq meat rice. Had a big treat from Joyce at The Tanjong on weds. It was a really good meal I must say and I was really glad that most people made it there. It was the first time I saw such a big group of our unit lunching and chatting together. Not forgetting the funny antics of Melissa as she attempts to hide behind the menu. I definitely had the honour to be there. Thursday was lunching out at One-North with the a part of the unit and Melissa treated me to noodles. Every meal of mine was a treat that my wallet literally had no use for the last few days. 

29 June - My last and final day. It wasn't all about working anymore. It was about saying the final goodbyes and just having fun. I had a really good lunch with Wai Lin, Melissa, Malini, May, Hui Yi and Judy. It was really, just fun the way I wanted it to be. Being it my last time at the canteen, I tried the Nasi Briyani for the first time; a treat from Malini and ate my favorite Xing Chow Bee Hoon. Appreciate that Hui yi shared the food with me. Wrote notes and letters to them and there were moments when I had a re-cap of some memories as they read it. Yes Malini, I can say I am very proud to be a TC after how it all started. And I am definitely proud to have you as my mentor and being the first TC to be trained by you. heh. 

I am really appreciative to those who were in the office then in agreeing to take one last group picture with me as well as Huiyi, who gave me the polaroid. Wai Lin asked me the day before if I would need tissue. Truthfully, I thought I might need it. But eventually, I left  on a happy note. There were some moments when I nearly teared though: that very moment Melissa gave me a hug, when Ivy shook my hand and told me that I must go back when I am free and when I said bye before walking out of the office.

The journey may have ended but the memories will never disappear. So why this blog title? Well, during my 5 months stay here, I realized that many of us constantly seek to leave before the sky turns all dark and this has been a significant part of my experience as I too, became one of those who attempt to see sunset everyday. I have learnt so much just like Kam Yoke have said, "her pockets are filled to the brim and she have brought away so much [more than i had ever expected]". I believe that one fine day, I will be back again, to join the chasing of sunsets with these amazing people.

"Ring Ring! You won't be able to see sunset if you don't leave in the next 5 minutes!!!!"

那些年，我們一起追日落...